Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Structured Data Mining Networks, Time Series, And Time Series Of Networks, Lin Zhang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The rate at which data is generated in modern applications has created an unprecedented demand for novel methods to effectively and efficiently extract insightful patterns. Methods aware of known domain-specific structure in the data tend to be advantageous. In particular, a joint temporal and networked view of observations offers a holistic lens to many real-world systems. Example domains abound: activity of social network users, gene interactions over time, a temporal load of infrastructure networks, and others. Existing analysis and mining approaches for such data exhibit limited quality and scalability due to their sensitivity to noise, missing observations, and the need …

Resolution Of Portable Raman Spectrometers And Its Effect On The Analysis Of Biological Specimens, Jalissa Thomas

Chemistry

Body fluid traces are a common and a major form of evidence that can be found at a crime scene, as it is a good source of DNA. As such, it is vital that body fluid evidence is properly detected and identified. Issues with the current methods of identifying body fluids and the large backlog of evidence in most forensic labs call for more accurate on-scene (in situ) body fluid identification. Past research has demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy is an advantageous tool for accurately and quickly identifying body fluids, namely in the laboratory. Portable Raman instruments have been …

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy For Cocaine Detection, Kiersten Jo Mead

Chemistry

The detection of drugs of abuse using Raman spectroscopy is of particular interest to forensic researchers at the moment. Raman spectroscopy is highly specific, fast, non-destructive, and can be adapted for in-situ measurements, making it the ideal forensic technique. Researchers working under the guidance of Doctor Igor Lednev have been able to use UV resonance Raman spectroscopy to detect cocaine in oral fluid without the need for sample pretreatment. They were however unable to detect the cocaine at forensically relevant levels. To overcome this limitation, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used in this proof of concept study for the detection …

High-Resolution Simulation Of A Tornado In Bangladesh On 13 May 1996, Katherine Hollinger

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

The country of Bangladesh has been known to experience some of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in the world. The severe weather season in this region only spans from late March to early May, but can produce significant severe weather outbreaks in that short time. Even with these outbreaks occurring, there has not been extensive analysis completed to evaluate the environmental parameters on these tornado event days in this region.

The goal of this project is to use a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulation to evaluate a significant tornado that occurred in the Tangail and Jamalpur districts in Bangladesh …

Examining Terrain Effects On Upstate New York Tornado Events Utilizing High-Resolution Model Simulations, Luke Lebel

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

The region at the intersection of the Mohawk and Hudson valleys of New York is characterized by complex terrain. It has been hypothesized that this complex terrain may have an impact on the development and evolution of severe convection in the region. Specifically, previous research has hypothesized that terrain-channeled flow in the Hudson and Mohawk valleys contributed to increased low-level wind shear and instability in the valleys during past severe weather outbreaks. However, a lack of observations in the region prevented this hypothesis from being robustly tested.

The goal of this study is to further examine this hypothesis and complement …

The Rapid Weakening Of Hurricane Fred (2009), Christina Talamo

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

This research project discusses the rapid weakening of Hurricane Fred, a major Category 3 hurricane that occurred in the Atlantic basin during the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season. Between the days of 9 September and 13 September, Fred remained stationary off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean and never made landfall, all the while consistently weakening over open ocean from a major Category 3 hurricane to a tropical storm. In the Atlantic basin, I will define the rapid weakening, or RW, of a tropical cyclone as a decrease in the storm’s maximum sustained winds by 10.3 m s⁻¹ in …

Negotiations Between Mother Nature And Man's Most Powerful Creation: The Environmental Crisis And The Corporate Paradigm, Drew Zaweski

Accounting

I came to the University at Albany intending to study accounting. While here I decided to add communication as a minor and was privileged to enroll in courses beyond the scope of, yet still relatable to, accounting. Such courses include the Theory of Organizational Communication, Studies in Public Persuasion - Communication in Professional Contexts, and Conference and Group Leadership all taught by Dr. Patricia Gettings; another was Environmental Economics taught by Mary Mallia. Throughout my time at the University at Albany, one of my favorite educational experiences has been when I am able to make connections between classes and across …

Determining Donor Age Through Blood Analysis Using Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform-Infrared (Atr Ft-Ir) Spectroscopy For Forensic Purposes, Samantha Leigh Giuliano

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Chapter 1 of this thesis is an overview of the use of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform-infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy in industry and for examination of body fluids with emphasizes on examination of blood. It covers recent developments for analysis of samples with ATR FT-IR spectroscopy for forensic purposes.

Identification And Analysis Of Body Fluid Traces For Forensic Purposes Using Vibrational Spectroscopy And Chemometrics, Ewelina M. Mistek-Morabito

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Recent years have seen a large expansion in the forensic field due to the introduction of novel analytical techniques. Body fluids are an extremely important type of evidence at crime scenes and the main source of DNA. Most current methods for the identification and examination of body fluid traces require chemical treatment and are therefore destructive to the sample. Thus, new methods that are nondestructive and provide rapid results with statistical confidence are desirable. Such methods could eliminate noninformative traces and allow investigators to focus on more valuable pieces of evidence. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop …

Units Of Truncated Group Rings Of Higman Groups, Brian Rich

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In this thesis an analogue of the triviality of units of group rings of finite abelian groupsis proved for truncated group rings. A Higman group is a group of exponent 2, 3, 4 or 6. The truncated group ring ZG t is the quotient of the group ring by the ideal generated by the formal sum of all group elements. We show that in the case of finite abelian G that ZG t has only trivial units; i.e, that any unit in ZG t is an image under the quotient map of a unit of the form ±g, where g …

The Impact Of Warm Conveyor Belt Forecast Uncertainty On Downstream Predictability, Jeremy Berman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Perturbations to the potential vorticity (PV) waveguide can lead to the downstream radiation of Rossby waves, and in turn high-impact weather events. The PV waveguide is often perturbed in association with cyclogenesis, largely due to the latent heat release within the cyclone’s warm conveyor belt (WCB). Previous studies have hypothesized that forecast uncertainty associated with diabatic heating in WCBs can result in large downstream forecast variability; however these studies have not established a direct connection between the two. This hypothesis is evaluated for six cyclogenesis events characterized by highly amplified flow over the North Atlantic using ensemble model simulations.

Understanding The Rage Signaling Pathway And Its Contribution To Diabetic Complications, Leon Vegas Ho

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The binding of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) to the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is an important feature of the RAGE signaling pathway that plays a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Under high glucose concentration, RAGE expression increases immensely from the formation of a Schiff base by glucose bounded to lysine. This triggers an inflammatory and immune response and upregulates the expression of RAGE and causes an accumulation of AGEs in the body. As a result, this leads to the development of diabetes and other complications such as, atherosclerosis, nephrothapy, and retinopathy. To remedy AGE accumulation, …

Random Processes Of The Form X[Subscript]N₊₁ = Ax[Subscript]N + B[Subscript]N (Mod P), Kseniya Klyachko

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

First, we examine the random process of the form Xn+1 = AXn + Bn (mod p) where A is a fixed 2x2 matrix with entries 2, 1, 1, 1, B_0, B_1, B_2,... are independent and identically distributed on the vectors [0 0], [0 1], [1 0], and X_0 is the 0 vector, with the goal of bounding the rate of convergence of this process to the uniform distribution.

Investigation Of Underpotential Deposition Of Copper At Heated Gold Loop Screen-Printed Electrodes In A Variety Of Water Samples, Eun-Ju Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

To study the underpotential deposition (UPD) of copper, three different types of water samples (TraceSelect® Ultra-pure water, Indian pond water at University at Albany and tap water) are used at a heated gold loop screen-printed electrode (GLE), which is a new type of heated working electrode for voltammetry measurements that is able to directly detect the copper content in the water samples. The anodic stripping analysis of copper is performed with these gold loop electrodes at room temperature of 25 °C and electrode temperature of 80 °C at two different deposition potentials, -0.20 V and +0.10 V. Furthermore, the concentration …

Detecting And Protecting Against Ai-Synthesized Faces, Yuezun Li

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The recent advances in deep learning and the availability of vast volume of online personal images and videos have drastically improved the reality of synthesized faces in images and videos. While there are interesting and creative applications of the AI face synthesis systems, they can also be weaponized, as it can create the illusions of a person's presence and activities that do not occur in reality, which results in serious political, social, financial, and legal consequences. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop effective method to expose the AI-synthesized faces. In this thesis, a set of our recent efforts …

Three Essays On Model Selection, Fangning Li

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In empirical research, we often need to address the issue of what model to use given a collection of candidate models. Conventionally, we use model selection to choose one best model from the collection of candidate models based on some model selection criteria. Model averaging is a generalization of model selection in the sense that it assigns weights to candidate models and uses a weighted average to construct an aggregated model. Usually model averaging provides better performance than model selection which chooses a single candidate model based on AIC or BIC.

Novel Substrate-Free Cholinesterase Based Sensing Of Organophosphorus Compounds, Hailey J. Marini

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The increasing concerns of chemical weapons used by terrorists is growing, creating a need for infield detection methods that can rapidly detect these compounds that are a major health concern for civilians and military personnel. Displacement is a novel concept for the detection of cholinesterase inhibitors, including organophosphorus compounds, that could replace the classical instrumentation methods currently being used for diagnostics.

Examining The Impact Of Synoptic-Scale Waves On Stratospheric Polar Vortex Variability From An Ensemble Forecast Perspective, Michael E. Main

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Major Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) events are characterized by rapid warming of the polar regions at 10 hPa and are accompanied by a reversal of the 10-hPa zonal-mean zonal wind at 60˚N from westerly to easterly. Following an SSW event, stratospheric thermal and momentum anomalies can progress downward and linger near the tropopause for up to 60 days. These anomalies have major impacts on tropospheric sensible weather including increased likelihood of cold air outbreaks and heavy precipitation events. SSW events are largely forced by upward propagation of planetary-scale Rossby waves from the troposphere to the stratosphere. Synoptic-scale waves can contribute …

Biochemical And Chemical Methods Of Key Derivation For Cryptographic Ciphers, Leif K. Mcgoldrick

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Cryptography is a vital component of digital communication and digital data in general. The use of cryptography is necessary to support the veracity of data and to protect it from outside parties with malicious intent. Cryptography focuses on two main facets that are vital for this goal: data encryption and user authentication. Encryption protects the data by transforming it into an encrypted text that would not allow someone access without having or breaking the encryption method that was used to make it. User authentication is a multiple part process that allows for one to be able to identify oneself to …

Discriminative Factorization Models For Student Behavioral Pattern Detection And Classification, Mehrdad Mirzaei

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The goal of this dissertation is to examine factors such as how a student chooses to engage with the online platform and time spent on individual tasks and draw conclusions to improve the efficiency of the students and efficacy of online learning tools. Student activities and decision-making while functioning in a computer-based learning environment are utilized to guide students with effective patterns in studying. In addition to the sequence of actions, we have considered the time spent on each activity in modeling to have a more accurate representation of students' behavior in studying. Using sequential pattern mining methods, we find …

Maxwell's Equations And Yang-Mills Equations In Complex Variables : New Perspectives, Sachin Munshi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Maxwell's equations, named after James C. Maxwell, are a U(1) gauge theory describing the interactions between electric and magnetic fields. They lie at the heart of classical electromagnetism and electrodynamics. Yang-Mills equations, named after C. N. Yang and Robert Mills, generalize Maxwell's equations and are associated with a non-abelian gauge theory called Yang-Mills theory. Yang-Mills theory unified the electroweak interaction with the strong interaction (QCD), and it is the foundation of the Standard Model in particle physics.

Fast Optimization Algorithms For Auc Maximization, Michael Natole, Jr.

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Stochastic optimizations algorithms like stochastic gradient descent (SGD) are favorable for large-scale data analysis because they update the model sequentially and with low per-iteration costs. Much of the existing work focuses on optimizing accuracy, however, it is known that accuracy is not an appropriate measure for class imbalanced data. Area under the ROC curve (AUC) is a standard metric that is used to measure classification performance for such a situation. Therefore, developing stochastic learning algorithms that maximize AUC in lieu of accuracy is of both theoretical and practical interest. However, AUC maximization presents a challenge since the learning objective function …

Ozone And Reactive Oxidized Nitrogen Chemistry In The Northeast U.S, Matthew Ninneman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Ongoing reductions in oxides of nitrogen concentrations ([NOx] = nitric oxide ([NO]) + nitrogen dioxide ([NO2])) throughout the continental United States (U.S.) have important implications for tropospheric ozone (O3) and reactive oxidized nitrogen chemistry (NOy ≈ NOx + nitric acid (HNO3) + particle nitrate (pNO3) + peroxy nitrates (PNs) + alkyl nitrates (ANs)). Specifically, decreasing [NOx] concentrations have likely (1) increased the sensitivity of O3 to the [NOx] level, and (2) affected NOy speciation and partitioning. An understanding of the impacts of continued [NOx] reductions is needed to inform current and future air pollution control strategies, especially since the National …

A Comparative Spatial And Climate Analysis Of Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis And Human Babesiosis In New York State (2013-2018), Collin J. O'Connor

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) and human babesiosis are tick-borne diseases spread by Ixodes scapularis (the blacklegged or deer tick) and are the result of infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti, respectively. In New York State (NYS), incidence rates of these diseases increased concordantly until around 2013, when rates of HGA began to increase more rapidly than human babesiosis, and the spatial extent of the diseases diverged. Surveillance data of tick-borne pathogens (2007 to 2018) and reported human cases of HGA (n=4,297) and human babesiosis (n=2,986) (2013 to 2018) from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) showed a …

Characters Of Affine Coxeter Groups, Thomas Dallas Peebles

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Determinantal varieties constructed by linear representations of Coxeter generators on afinite dimensional Hilbert space were shown to determine representations of non-exceptional finite Weyl groups up to unitary equivalence by Cuckovic, Stessin, and Tchernev. This result posed the question if something analogous could be established for affine Coxeter groups. Since it is well known that these groups are infinite in order, we only consider representations that are finite dimensional, and we establish results about the structure and combinatorics of each group and its respective representation. The main results established in this dissertation shows that determinantal varieties of a set of group …

Factors Influencing Rainfall Over The Congo, Ajay Raghavendra

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The hydrological cycle over tropical rainforests includes some of the most intense thunderstorms and rainfall totals. The energy associated with this convective activity plays an important role in the Earth’s weather and climate system. Therefore, the interannual variability, trends, and future climate projections of the hydrological cycle over tropical rainforests are important topics for research. The Congo rainforest situated over equatorial Africa is the second largest rainforest in the world, and recent studies have documented a >30-year large-scale and long-term drying trend over the Congo since the late-1970s. However, unlike the Amazon rainforest in South America, the Congo rainforest is …

Utilizing Raman Spectroscopy And Chemometrics For Novel Medical Diagnostic Purposes, Nicole M. Ralbovsky

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Many problems exist within the myriad of currently employed diagnostic techniques. Further, an incredibly wide variety of procedures are used to identify an even greater number of diseases which exist in the world. There is a definite unmet clinical need to improve the diagnostic capabilities of these methods, including improving test sensitivity and specificity, objectivity and definitiveness, and reducing cost and how invasive a test is, with an interest in replacing multiple diagnostic methods with one powerful tool. That is, the development of a singular technique which can accurately and objectively diagnose a wide variety of diseases in a cost-effective …

Evaluating Large-Scale And Storm-Scale Characteristics Of Rapidly Intensifying And Slowly Intensifying Tropical Cyclones Using An Analog Approach, Jannetta C. Richardson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Tropical cyclone (TC) intensity change is modulated by a combination of large-scale and storm-scale processes. On the large-scale, several factors exhibit strong controls on TC rapid intensification (RI): the initial TC intensity, the environmental vertical wind shear (VWS), and the background thermodynamic environment, which determines the TC’s maximum potential intensity (MPI). Previous statistical studies comparing RI and non-RI TCs have shown that TCs undergoing RI tend to be embedded in environments of lower VWS, and have initial intensities that are farther from their MPIs. Although numerous statistical studies have compared the large-scale and storm-scale conditions of RI and non-RI TCs, …

An Analysis Of Temperature Trends In The Northeast United States : 1950-2019, Christopher Selca

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The warming signal associated with anthropogenic climate change shows a significant positive trend globally over the last century. Trends in the magnitude and frequency of annual mean and extreme events do not display a globally uniform signal, as some regions have shown negative trends. This study examines the trends in daily mean and extreme temperatures in the Northeast region of the United States. Station data was selected from the GHCN-D Version 3 data set, using a blend of stations from the weather forecast offices and the cooperative observing network. Station criteria included using a threshold of less than 5% of …

Improving Our Understanding Of The Relationship Between Ocean Heat Uptake And Climate Sensitivity, Michael Cameron Rencurrel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

One of the ultimate goals of the field of climate science is to determine exactly how sensitive the Earth is to anthropogenic forcing, with far reaching implications both from a scientific and policy standpoint. However, despite decades of observational and model analysis, large uncertainties in Earth's climate sensitivity persist. Recent advances have shown that climate feedbacks, the primary mechanism driving the sensitivity spread, are dependent on the spatial patterns of the surface response, intrinsically linked to how the ocean is working to uptake and transport energy across the globe. Given the importance of reducing the range of climate sensitivity from …